The present invention relates to a method of locating an object-applied optical code.
The present invention also relates to a device implementing the above method.
Systems are known for locating optical codes--in particular bar codes--applied to objects traveling on conveying devices (e.g. conveyor belts), and for determining the presence and arrangement in space of the code. Known devices normally use laser locating and reading systems, known types of which, however, present several drawbacks: poor reliability, due to the large number of moving mechanical parts involved; limited omnidirectional reading capacity; inability to read two-dimensional codes; and poor capacity for reading plastic-coated codes.
To overcome the above drawbacks, systems have been devised featuring optical sensors (in particular, telecameras) for picking up a two-dimensional image of the object and selecting a portion of the image corresponding to the code. Such systems also provide for reading the code in the selected image portion, but suffer from the drawback of involving complex processing of a large amount of data.